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Over half of people with heart disease ‘experience feelings of depression’

Financial strain and uncertainty about the future are major worries

Emily Perryman | 30th July 2019

More than half of people living with heart and
circulatory diseases have experienced feelings related to anxiety or
depression, a survey shows.

The Picker poll of 5,000 people living with conditions
such as a heart attack, stroke and heart failure found that 58% had reported
feeling sad, down or depressed.

Another 59% had experienced feelings of anxiety and fear
or uncertainty about the future.

Nearly half of respondents (45%) who had experienced
feelings of depression said they have had a moderate or high need for help, but
39% said they had received no help.

The same proportion who had experienced anxiety, fear or
uncertainty about the future said they have had a moderate or high need for
help, but 37% said they had not received any.

People living with heart and circulatory diseases
mentioned several challenges that affected their emotional and psychological
wellbeing. These included treatment-related worries, perceived financial
strain, lack of social support, impaired physical function, perception of
feeling different from peers, bodily pain or symptoms, fear of recurrence of
cardiac events, uncertainty about the future and impaired health-related
quality of life.

Those who said they received no help wanted to have
better access to professional psychological support, be it through their GP or
as part of rehabilitation.

Further analysis of patient data by the British Heart
Foundation (BHF) reveals more than one in three (37%) working age adults in the
UK living with coronary heart disease have been diagnosed with anxiety or
depression by their GP, up from 30% a decade earlier.

Around four in 10 (41%) working age stroke survivors have
also been diagnosed with anxiety or depression by their GP, up from 33% a
decade ago.

Coronary heart disease, which can cause a heart attack,
and stroke are two of the most common types of heart and circulatory disease in
the UK.

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the BHF, said
everyone should have access to support and care that addresses their
psychological needs alongside treatment of their heart or circulatory disease.

“For anyone who has had a heart attack, stroke or heart
surgery, or has been told they have a heart or circulatory condition, it is
normal to feel low, worried or anxious,” he added.